Family Research Council Won’t Publicly Repudiate Anti-gay Violence

In the wake of the hate-motivated murder last week of Mark Carson in New York City’s Greenwich Village — just one in a string of anti-transgender and anti-gay hate crimes plaguing the city, LGBT rights activist Scott Wooledge challenged LGBT rights opponents to repudiate the violence:

LGBT rights orgs have been very clear violence will not be tolerated. Opponents of LGBT rights however have never made it clear to their followers that anti-gay violence is not a tactic to “fight the gay agenda.” After a big spike in anti-gay hate crimes in 2012, can they not issue a joint statement such as gay rights groups did here: http://bit.ly/1a14SqI

And remind people, we can disagree without hurting each other?

National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown responded with a blog post, stating:

We condemn in the strongest possible way the murder of a gay man in New York by a killer who apparently hurled anti-gay insults at him moments before the killing. This senseless act cannot be condoned in America or anywhere, and we urge that the perpetrator be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our heart goes out to the family of the victim, and we hold them in our prayers. While this killing appears to have no connection to the current debate about redefining marriage, there is no room for violence toward any American — whether they support traditional marriage or not. No person should be subjected to violence because they are gay or lesbian or because they believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. There is no place for violence, period.

However, Family Research Council, which understands what it means to be the intended target of violence after an armed man tried to attack its offices last year, has remained effectively silent. Yesterday FRC president Tony Perkins sent a statement via email to a select group of recipients denouncing “unprovoked violence”, but he has refrained from emailing it to FRC’s general email list (which I am on) or posting it on the FRC website, Facebook page or Twitter feed.

In other words, FRC wants journalists to report that it has released a statement without really releasing it. FRC wants credit for repudiating anti-LGBT violence without really repudiating it.

Family Research Council Won’t Publicly Repudiate Anti-gay Violence

In the wake of the hate-motivated murder last week of Mark Carson in New York City’s Greenwich Village — just one in a string of anti-transgender and anti-gay hate crimes plaguing the city, LGBT rights activist Scott Wooledge challenged LGBT rights opponents to repudiate the violence:

LGBT rights orgs have been very clear violence will not be tolerated. Opponents of LGBT rights however have never made it clear to their followers that anti-gay violence is not a tactic to “fight the gay agenda.” After a big spike in anti-gay hate crimes in 2012, can they not issue a joint statement such as gay rights groups did here: http://bit.ly/1a14SqI

And remind people, we can disagree without hurting each other?

National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown responded with a blog post, stating:

We condemn in the strongest possible way the murder of a gay man in New York by a killer who apparently hurled anti-gay insults at him moments before the killing. This senseless act cannot be condoned in America or anywhere, and we urge that the perpetrator be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our heart goes out to the family of the victim, and we hold them in our prayers. While this killing appears to have no connection to the current debate about redefining marriage, there is no room for violence toward any American — whether they support traditional marriage or not. No person should be subjected to violence because they are gay or lesbian or because they believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. There is no place for violence, period.

However, Family Research Council, which understands what it means to be the intended target of violence after an armed man tried to attack its offices last year, has remained effectively silent. Yesterday FRC president Tony Perkins sent a statement via email to a select group of recipients denouncing “unprovoked violence”, but he has refrained from emailing it to FRC’s general email list (which I am on) or posting it on the FRC website, Facebook page or Twitter feed.

In other words, FRC wants journalists to report that it has released a statement without really releasing it. FRC wants credit for repudiating anti-LGBT violence without really repudiating it.